Life isn't Pharoah
by Shrimpmeister
Summary: Little one-shot of a stopover between dangerous missions. Doc 11 and Amy, plus OC. All reviews welcome - please!


"What do you mean, you don't _want_ to?"

The young girl cowered before the priest, and the two heavily armed guards that flanked him, almost as the wings of an avenging angel, did nothing to help her feelings of terror.

"It is _right_ and _proper_ that Pharaoh has his most prized possessions with him as he journeys to the next world, and for some reason I cannot start to understand..."

\- the priest paused to stare even more pointedly down his nose at the girl -

"... Pharaoh included _you_ in that list. _Would you deny him_?"

The girl felt ever more helpless under the priest's gaze. Her brief protests seemed to her a lifetime ago.

"No..." she whispered.

And now it was done. Her last glimpse of sunlight had been the ever shrinking slice of brilliance, as the slaves levered the final stone into place. As it dropped into the pit, the boom as it landed was the sound of her death. All that was left now were the few flickering torches, the handful of cold, stone corridors, a small cache of water, the potion bottle for when the time came, and the concealed doorway behind which lay the freshly embalmed corpse of the late ruler.

The girl was empty of tears. Her fear had been eaten all away. All that was left now was a lonely soul waiting for the end to come.

She slumped down, her back to the burial chamber door, and looked at the flickering shadows being cast on the wall opposite. Red, yellow and orange, they turned the roughly-cut stone wall into a moving vista. Red, yellow and orange, they made it seem as if the carved hieroglyphs moved across the wall in a mocking parody of life and her impending death. Red, yellow, orange and blue, they taunted her for...

 _Blue_?

Suddenly she heard voices.

This, at least, proved her wrong in one aspect. She had firmly believed that her capacity for fear had been exhausted. Oh no.

Of course, you _heard_ tales of the journey to the Netherworld, but that was all they were - just tales. Nobody entombed as she was had ever returned to corroborate the stories.

And none of them had mentioned a blue light, and two creatures dressed so strangely walking straight towards her, baring their teeth and calling out in an incomprehensible tongue...

When she awoke, she was no longer lying on the sand-covered floor. The surface was soft, and cool.

Opening her eyes, she saw many silver poles supporting a high roof, and the walls were covered in a myriad of coloured lights.

A few feet away, one of the creatures was leaning over a table in the centre of the room, its back to her. She glanced around to see if there was an escape, but succeeded only in meeting the gaze of the second creature, who spoke one word.

"Doctor..."

The first one spun around, and in the clearer light he saw that her captors were - possibly - human, although their skin tone was lighter than any she had seen, and their robes were like nothing before.

"Aha! She awakes!. How are you feeling? Would you like some tea, or perhaps..."

The clearly male human turned to his female accomplice.

"Amy Pond, do we have any custard?"

To the girl's surprise, she could now understand their speech, even if some of the words were still confusing.

"Where... who..."

The one named Amy Pond walked over and knelt down before her.

"It's alright, you're just a bit... stressed, that's all. My name is Amy. Can you tell me your name?"

"Meresankh" she mumbled.

"Hello, Meresankh. This... " - she gestured over to the male who stood a little way away - "this is the Doctor. How are you feeling?"

Meresankh shot a glance around the room again. They were surely outside the pyramid now, as this room dwarfed the burial chamber by a great margin.

"I am... confused. Where am I? Is this the Netherworld?"

Amy looked at the Doctor, and then turned back with a smile on her face.

"No, this isn't the netherworld, although it's not really _your_ world either. Can I ask why you were shut inside the pyramid?"

Meresankh realised that - for whatever reason, and however she arrived - this was here and now, and she wasn't in any immediate threat of harm, which made a nice change.

"The Pharaoh died, and I was chosen to accompany him on his journey to the Netherworld."

Amy looked puzzled.

" _Accompany_ him?" she asked.

"That's what _they_ call it. What they _mean_ , of course, is that when he dies, I die too." replied Meresankh. "There's supposed to be glory on my family and life forever after, but all I knew was a priest forcing me inside against my wishes, a small bottle of water, and poison for when my fatigue and hunger overtook me."

Amy appeared shocked, and picked up on the key phrase with what Meresankh thought a sure sign of good sense and intelligence.

"Against your wishes? You mean you didn't _want_ to be shut in?"

"Of course not" replied Meresankh. "Only the very devout would wish death on themselves. And I'm not that religious, when it comes to life or death decisions."

"Where are your family?" asked the Doctor.

"My family? I haven't seen them since I was so small..."

Amy put her arm around the young girl's shoulders, and looked over at the Doctor, who nodded, and turned to the Tardis controls. Behind him, Amy and Meresankh spoke quietly.

The sun shone brightly on the water, and the woman blinked the brightness away as she washed her clothing in the river. It was a quiet, peaceful day, and the small breeze across the water took the harshness off the heat of the day.

A voice behind her made her look up and turn around.

Before her, in front of a strange wooden building, were three figures. The taller two she had never seen before, but the slight figure of the girl in front called to her over many years, and she immediately knew who she was.

As mother and daughter embraced, Amy turned to the Doctor and smiled. He reached up and ruffled her hair.

"The Tardis knew. I will never know how, but it appears the Tardis always knows."

Quietly, they closed the door, and in a moment, they were gone.


End file.
